Acclimating Blue Starfish without air?

[dshurett]

I am Getting in a blue starfish tomorrow and wanted to know how the best way to acclimate them to my tank without exposing them to air. I'm fimilar with the drip method of getting them acclimated to water conditions. How do I avoid getting their water mixed with mine while keeping it from touching the air?

 

[car guy]

open the bag put it in the tank and drip water into it, then siphen some of ti out and sumerge the bag and take him out and place him were you want him, till he moves

 

[lettheirberock]

avoid touching the star fish with your hand, i hear they are affected by the oils on your hands.

 

[dshurett]

I bought the starfish from SWF.com..here.. I am concerned about mixing their water with mine as advised against in the directions. At the same time I am concerned about touching the starfish with air. Seems that the 2 are not possible at the same time.

 

[chocostar]

Ill offer some small advice.
I have a tank that I keep nothing but Starfish in. I love starfish and I think they are probably my second favorite saltwater entity. My first being my blue spot stingray.
Anyways. I have 4 Blue Linkas in my tank and I have touched them more than once and had no ill effects. Some people say that I am just lucky that it worked out that way and whatever but I dont believe that is so.
My acclimation method for a Blue Linka is pretty simple and straight forward. All I do is use the drip method to avoid a salinity shock problem, and as soon as im ready to release him into his new environment I lift his bag out of the water, cut off both corners and let it drain fully. Once its drained, I immediately submerge him in the tank plastic and all. He will be in the open air for approximately 5 seconds. This is NOTHING to panic about, and I have never lost a blue star from using this method. If for some reason you need to move the star dont hesitate to touch him, he wont die from your touch unless you are using unwashed hands after working in the yard/on your car or someting silly. Just wash your hands like normal and let them dry fully. I usually let my hand soak in a tank corner for 30 - 40 seconds jsut to absorb some of the water before I touch anything, sort of a adjustment period if nothign else.
Honestly I would never suggest anything that would harm your starfish. I am a starfish lover beyond anything
Hope it works out well and I hope you like your Blue Star because they are a beautiful star. One thing to note, every Blue Star that I have gotten from SWF.com has lived with no problems, and something else I noticed about theirs is that they are a tad bigger than most of the ones the local fish stores' around here get.

 

[partonks]

I received and acclimated 2 blue stars yesterday from SWF.com. I did acclimate them slowly, but possibly not slowly enough (they were sent to me on accident, so I hadn't done my studying). They both have established a home in holes in the rock and hold up their legs to filter feed. I'm hoping they make it, but they did touch my hands for a moment, and probably were exposed to air for 3-5 seconds. We'll see.

 

[y2says]

I'm thinking about getting a few starfishes too. What about this? After the bag is in the tank for a bit and you'll been slowly adding and taking the water out of it, get a bowl and dump the the rest of the water and starfish in it. Get a tong or spoon or something like that to pickup the starfish to put it in your tank. I figure the starfish would only be in air for a few seconds and you didn't touch it. I think that is what I'm going to do when I get one.

 

[templar]

What about after the acclimation process, put the bag vertically in your tank with the opening on top, so not much of the bags water gets in your tank and then take the starfish out while wearing a rubber glove? This way he doesn't touch you and he doesnt hit air.

 

[bluewater]

Acclimation New Specimens Fish and invertebrates
Here are simple acclimation procedures for newly arrived specimens. To reduce any additional stress on your fish you should turn off all the lights on the tank before introducing the new fish. The following easy steps need to be followed and completed within one hour.
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# One Float the unopened bag in the display or quarantine tank for fifteen minutes to equalize the water temperature in the shipping bag.
# Two Open the bag by cutting it just below the metal staple and add one cup of aquarium water into the shipping bag.
# Three Wait five minutes before you add another cup of aquarium water. Repeat these steps every five minutes until the shipping bag in filled.
# Four Remove half of the water in the shipping bag into a waste container. Add another cup of aquarium water and wait five minutes before you add another cup.
# Five When the shipping bag becomes filled the second time you can then safely net the fish and place it into your tank.
# Six Discard both the shipping water and the water in the waste container.
# Seven Leave the fish with the lights off for the rest of the day to allow it to settle into its new environment.
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Corals and other
# One Float the unopened bag in the display or quarantine tank for a fifteen minutes to equalize the water temperature in the shipping bag.
# Two Open the bag by cutting a small hole in it just below the metal staple.
# Three Take a airline hose and attach a airline control valve at one end. Place the other end in the display or quarantine tank and adjust the valve so you get one drop per three seconds.
# Four When the bag is filled you should close the valve, remove the hose from the shipping container and discard half of the water in a waste container.
# Five Place the airline hose back in the bag and continue to drip the aquarium water into the bag.
# Six When the bag is filled you can then discard both the shipping water and the water in the waste container.
# Seven Place the coral in the lower part of the tank and leave the lights off for at least three hours.
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These are some acclimation tips from my LFS
website.
[ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: BlueWater ]